Courtney is against hiring a police commissioner. And he supports rent control, believing it is beneficial to poor and elderly tenants.

William Dreier

William Dreier usually votes Democratic but he says he wouldn't be indisposed to vote Republican if the circumstances demanded it. "I'm aware that most politics today is personalities. I don't think that's good."

A moderate, Dreier is convinced that there are solutions to the problems that face Cambridge, solutions that will be fair and acceptable for all Cambridge residents.

Dreier wants to provide better social services for the handicapped, poor, elderly, minorities and the young--but not at the expense of a major raise in taxes.

That may seem contradictory, but it's not, Dreier says. By reducing "waste and inefficiency" in city government, he plans to increase social services while managing to keep taxes down.

As for rent control, Dreier thinks the city needs a new "formula" to aid the small landlord who is being driven out of business or forced to neglect the upkeep of his property.

Carol Evans

Carol Evans, running as a member of the Socialist Workers Party, has all the right qualifications that a left-wing candidate should have: She was up to her neck in the anti-war movement; she was a founding coordinator of the Committee to Defend Abortion Rights, which supported Kenneth Edelin; she has long been involved in the struggle to desegregate Boston schools.

Her campaign slogan is "human needs before profit," and she attacks anything which hints of prejudice or inequality--homosexual discrimination, race bias, income stratification and sex discrimination.

Maria Da Rosa

Maria E. DaRosa is an active woman. A single parent with two teenage children and a job as an "office organizer," she still manages to go to evening classes in order to finish an earlier, aborted attempt to get a B.S. degree from the University of Massachusetts.

DaRosa considers herself a democrat, but only tenuously. She believes the main issues of the campaign for city council--issues that overshadow all others--are housing and unemployment.

DaRosa said she thinks rent control should be maintained or extended, even though landlords might be less willing to offer decent maintenance services as a result.